Enjoying his stay in the city state was Atletico’s CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin who was delighted to be able to bring his squad to Singapore as part of the Singapore Olympic Foundation – Peter Lim Charity Cup.

“This is not my first time in Singapore,” said Gil Marin in an exclusively arranged interview with Goal Singapore

“I have been here five times before and it is an amazing country. For me to bring the team here is nice as they are able to see Singapore and can help in this Peter Lim scholarship and help the athletes improve in their performance.”

While La Liga has been dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, Gil Marin is proud that his side have been able to deliver trophies and achieved a respectable league finish.

Atletico have consistently played in Europe's premier competitions since the 2007 season, winning five regional titles in the process, including the now defunct Uefa Intertoto Cup and the Super Cup.

“We played in the Uefa Champions League some years ago and then there is also the Europa League and we win titles and titles again,” he beamed proudly.

“The last seven years have been nice as we had success and the only thing we have in our mind is to maintain the same performance and compete.

“It is not easy to compete with our budget, about 120 million against those that have more than 500 million euros.”

With numerous club chasing their star player Radamel Falcao’s signature, Gil Marin is not too concerned with the development adding: "We have a good track record of strikers, so there's no problem [if Falcao leaves]"